The Flip Side
by QueenLavenderEyes
Summary: The new District Attorney makes a appearance and it could herald the destruction of something very important...
1. Chapter 1

**The Flip Side**

It was the start of yet another day and yet Sharon Raydor already wanted to go home.

Normally Sharon enjoyed her job and ever since the team started getting used to her it was almost nice to come to work each day.

But Sharon couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen today.

Sharon was above all else a sensible person so feelings like this drove her crazy because she couldn't figure out what was causing the feeling. Not to mention the fact that when she did get this feeling there was not much she could do to keep the bad thing from happening.

Tao calling her from the squad room drove the unhappy thoughts from her head for the time being.

"Captain?"

"Yes? Did we get a new case?" Sharon asked, knowing that Tao had just come from Taylor's office.

"Yes, Ma'am. Someone found a boy downtown that matches a series of past cases."

Nodding her head, Sharon got up from her desk and gathered her things.

"Well then let's go meet the rest of the squad at the crime scene."

The dead body turned out to be a teenage boy and Sharon couldn't help but think of Rusty when she saw him.

In terms of looks the boy could have been brothers with Rusty, which was not a connection that Sharon wanted to make considering the torture wounds on the body.

Looking at the body made Sharon grateful that Rusty had gotten off the street and avoided the similar fate like so many boys on the street did.

Clearing her throat, Sharon turned to Provenza.

"Do we know anything about the boy yet?"

Provenza shook his head.

"He didn't have any identification on him. We'll fingerprint him and hopefully he'll be in the system for something."

"Captain." Sanchez called from beside the body. "There's something you might want to look at over here."

Sharon walked over to Sanchez, nodding to Morales as she knelt by the body.

It was clear what Sanchez had called her over for.

The body had been written on in what looked like black marker.

All it said was "I obey."

Deeply disturbed by the message Sharon got up and let Morales take the body.

There was nothing else standing out about the crime scene but Sharon made sure that everything was completely searched.

After a long search of the crime scene the squad bagged all of their evidence and headed back to the office.

The odd thing was the feeling in the pit of Sharon's stomach was getting worse as the minutes passed.

"Hey, Sharon."

Sharon jumped as the voice spoke up as she opened the door to her office.

Then she relaxed when she realized that the voice belonged to Rusty.

"Rusty, please don't startle me like that. What are you doing in here anyways? Shouldn't you be in your cubicle doing your homework?" Sharon smiled at him as he stood up.

"Yeah I should. I just came in here to see if you were back before I got to work. Did you just get back?"

"Yes I did but you know I can't tell you anything else. Now let's go so you can get on that homework."

Sharon smiled again as they walked out of the office but her smile soon disappeared.

A woman was walking towards them and suddenly Sharon knew that this woman was the event that Sharon had been dreading all day.

Sanchez stood up, walking towards the woman with a smile on his face that made it clear that he was interested but the woman ignored him, focusing on Raydor and Rusty instead.

"Captain Raydor? I'm Emma Rios, with the District Attorney's office. I've taken over the Stroh case and I was hoping that I could speak with you." Rios glanced at Rusty. "Alone, of course. I'll deal with the witness at a later time."

Sharon looked at her squad but they looked just as surprised as she felt.

"Alright. I would be happy to speak with you, Ms. Rios. Rusty, I believe you said that you had homework that had to be done?"

Sharon stressed Rusty's name, annoyed that Ms. Rios had just called him the witness instead of using his name.

Rusty hesitated, unsure of the new woman.

But finally he nodded. "Yeah….Homework. I'd better get on that."

Glancing at Ms. Rios again, Rusty headed to his cubical.

Sharon gestured to her office. "If you wouldn't mind….."

But she didn't even finish the sentence before Ms. Rios got into the office.

Sharon made sure the rest of the squad knew what to do before she followed Ms. Rios into the office.

Judging by the looks that her squad was sending towards the office, Sharon could tell that they didn't like the new woman any more than she did.

She knew something bad was going to happen today.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Flip Side 2**

As they entered Raydor's office Sharon couldn't help but wonder why she was getting a bad feeling about the woman in front of her.

The DDA sat down in the chair in front of the desk impatiently, like she wanted to get this meeting done quickly.

Raydor could tell that this meeting was not going to go well but since the woman had taken over Rusty's case she would at least try.

"I was not notified that there was a new person assigned to Rusty's case or we would have been better prepared for this meeting."

Raydor said, attempting to start on friendly terms but DDA Rios interrupted her.

"Captain Raydor, I have no time to waste in pleasantries so let us get down to business. I have reviewed the Stroh case and I believe that this case has not been handled in the proper way. I intend to change this before we get to trial."

Raydor glared at the woman and opened her mouth to reply but Rios interrupted her.

"I am also aware of the fact that the witness has been living at your residence. I'm not sure why you felt the needs to bend the rules instead of finding him a home like you were supposed to but I would like that to be changed."

At this statement Raydor couldn't help herself.

"The witness has a name and you would do well to call him by it. And we are not removing Rusty from my home. My home is fine for him right now and he wouldn't stay in a foster home anyway. Rusty is in my care and he will remain that way. "

The look Rios gave her would have stopped weaker people but Raydor was anything but weak.

"If you like we can arrange a meeting between you and Rusty so that we can prepare for the trial. Now is there anything else you need or may I get back to my case?"

The two women sat there glaring at each other until Rios finally looked away.

"Fine. But I will be reporting your refusal to work with me to my superiors." Rios snapped.

Rios stood up and headed toward the door.

"DDA Rios, My priority is Rusty. The trial might be your main concern but Rusty is mine. I'll work with you as long as you remember that."

DDA Rios turned around but she had nothing to say so she opened the door and left.

The squad room was quiet as they watched DDA Rios leave the room.

They could tell by the look on Raydor's face that the meeting had not gone well and it didn't bode well for future dealing with the woman that it took her so little time to make Raydor angry.

But before anyone could ask her about the meeting Raydor silenced them with a glare.

"Have we found out anything about the boy that was found?"

"We found out the boy's name and we have already contracted his parents to come in." Provenza answered. "They will be here soon."

While the rest of the team caught her up on the case Raydor tried to focus but she couldn't help but glance at Rusty's cubicle. She knew that the squad wanted to ask about the new DDA but Sharon thought that she should talk to Rusty first.

Though she didn't look forward to telling him about the new DDA and her aborted plans for him.

"So the new DDA wants to make me leave here and go into a foster home? Why?"

Rusty asked as he set the table later that day.

"She feels like I am not following the rules closely enough. But I made it clear that you would not be going anywhere. Needless to say she didn't like that."

"Good. Because I would just run away if they put me into another home like they did before. This woman is going to be causing trouble for us, isn't she? Though I admit that it's kind of funny that she accused you of not following the rules. I bet that's not something that you've been accused of before by someone at work." Rusty asked.

Rusty's voice sounded normal but Raydor could tell that he was really worried about DDA Rios and what she could mean for his situation. But it was a good sign that he could joke about the rules since it meant that he trusted her to keep him her safe.

The situation with Daniel had really gotten to him, even if he wouldn't admit it, so it bothered him when someone else made the same threats to take her away from Raydor.

Raydor knew that Rusty didn't want her to worry or try to reassure him so she silently promised him that she would do everything she could to protect him.

Carrying the food to the table, Raydor smiled at Rusty as she sat down. She could see him relax a little as he sat down as well so it made Raydor feel a little better.

They had a pleasant dinner together but both of them could feel the worry in the room.

It was the same feeling that had surrounded them during the Daniel situation.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Flip side 3**

After two weeks of dealing with the new DDA Raydor could fully admit that the new woman could drive her to violence very quickly just by opening her mouth.

Rios seemed determined to undermine Raydor at every turn, whether it was involving the case they were working or Rusty's case.

The current case was an excellent example of the DDA and her "methods".

Raydor and the squad had gotten a case where a young couple was murdered while they were moving into their new home.

From the moment that the case was given to them DDA Rios was trying to hurry them (because supposedly investigating a murder should not take long).

Yet somehow the woman only managed to slow them down with her insistence that her way of "exactly" following the rules.

Raydor knew that she was a stickler for rules herself but Rios seemed to think that the rules should be followed word for word and that there was no reason why the rules could be taken in different ways.

So clearing the crime scene went from making sure the non-personnel were not with the boundaries to having everyone wait out the crime scene tape while their names were checked off on a list.

Apparently the list did not include personnel like Buzz which ended up causing an argument between Raydor and Rios.

Guess who won?

After a few hours of investigating individual tasks the squad met up in the squad room to brief each other on what they had learned.

But as soon as Provenza saw Raydor he came straight over and apologized.

While everyone stared at him in shock (including Raydor) Provenza explained.

"I just wanted to say that I was sorry for how I have always acted towards you after dealing with our new DDA I can honestly say that I was wrong about you and your rulebook."

Sanchez of all people started laughing.

"Yeah I have to agree with Provenza on this one. At least you let us do our work as long as it basically followed the rules, even if it was not in the way people would think."

Sykes piped up from her desk.

"Is this how things are going to be from now on because I think that she's going to drive us insane if this continues."

"I know." Said Raydor "But I'm afraid there is nothing we can do. We'll just have to make the best of it for now and hopefully once the Stroh case is over she'll leave."

Everyone groaned at the thought of spending more time with Rios.

"Speaking of which, I have to go to a meeting with DDA Rios and Rusty so if you'll excuse me…"

Raydor quickly walked out of the room, happy that they finally saw that there were people out there than she was when it came to the rules.

"You're late Captain Raydor." DDA Rios said when Raydor got into the room.

With a nod to Rusty, Raydor turned to Rios.

"I am not late. The meeting was for 2 pm and that is what time it is now."

"It turned to 2:01 just before you came in so you are late. Now let's stop wasting what time we have left and get back to business."

Rusty opened his mouth to defend Raydor but at the quick shake of her head he sat back in his chair.

"Now I understand that the witness can identify Mr. Stroh from dumping the woman's body and from the attempted murder at Chief Johnson's house. Why exactly was he at the Chief's house instead of a foster home?"

Raydor answered as Rusty glared at Rios.

"We felt that Rusty was in danger and Chief Johnson could prove a place to stay where he could be protected."

"Which she then failed at. No wonder she left the police department." Rios muttered.

This made Raydor and Rusty angry but before they could say anything Rios went on.

"I see that both you and Chief Johnson have decided that taking the witness into your homes was a better idea than actually following the rules. But I have already put in a request with the judge and the district to have him moved into a proper foster care home so this flagrant disregard for the rules will be fixed."

Raydor stood up abruptly at this statement.

"I have already told you that Rusty will remain in my home so this "issue" is settled. Now could you please get back to prepping for the trial because we do have better things to be doing right now."

DDA Rios just looked at Raydor.

"There is no reason to be so hostile towards me just because you cannot follow the rules. Now, the first thing about the case that we should talk about would be why the witness was out on the street and why he was in the park that night. No doubt the defense will try to use the fact that he was a prostitute against us so we have to…."

But before Rios could finish her sentence Rusty got out of his chair.

"MY NAME IS RUSTY! And there is nothing wrong with me staying with Sharon so get over yourself."

Rusty stormed out of the room as Rios stared at him in shock.

"Well if this is how you let him act at home I can see this case will be more difficult than I thought."

Raydor turned for the doorway that she was standing in and just looked at Rios.

Then she followed Rusty, slamming the door behind her.


End file.
